Dog Days

                I spent the past few days in the Catskills with our two dogs, Otis and Tilly.  Otis is a chocolate lab in the golden years of his life.  Tilly is a mouthy, young mixed-breed.  Otis is a strong, quiet dog who gives kisses to anyone and anything in reach of his unfurled tongue.  Tilly thinks she’s a princess, and she protests when she isn’t treated like one.  Otis and Tilly spent their days in the Catskills going on long walks, eating and sleeping.  I spent my days taking Otis and Tilly on long walks, feeding them and painting our cabin.  It seems like my days would have been better spent as dog days.

                Dogs are amazing animals.  They’ve adapted themselves over millennia to be uniquely attuned to human behavior, rightfully taking their place in the human heart as man’s best friend.  Dogs can be found side-by-side with their human partners as herders, hunters, protectors, therapists, guides and, of course, companions.  In my opinion, no domestic animal (and I’ve had them all) is as smart, loyal, loving and forgiving as canis familiaris.

                What amazes me most about dogs is their ability to live in the moment.  Dogs aren’t affected by time; they don’t fret about yesterday or worry about tomorrow.  Dogs don’t pass their days pining away for us to come home, but they’re thrilled as soon as we cross the threshold.  Dogs don’t worry about where and when their next meal will come from, but they’ll nearly knock us the floor in unbridled enthusiasm as we prepare their supper bowl.  Dogs live in the now. 

                There’s a lot to be learned from a dog’s “live in the now” kind of attitude – it’s very eternal.  Eternity is the ever-present “now” – there’s no past to fret about or future to worry about.  There’s just now.  We say that only God is eternal because only God is not bound by time; he always has been and always will be.  Now just imagine an ever-present, everlasting life of pure love, peace and happiness.  Sounds, pretty good, doesn’t it?  Well, that’s what it’s like to be God.  And out of his boundless love, God offers every one of us a share of his eternal life right now; he invites each us to live in his love, peace and happiness now and forever. 

It isn’t easy to live always in the now.  There are bills to pay, mouths to feed and futures to plan.  But God isn’t calling us to abandon these responsibilities; he’s inviting us into his eternal life of love, peace and happiness so we won’t worry about them, so we’ll let the past go and deal with the future as it comes.  “Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are not you more important than they?” (Matthew 6:26)

 

          God calls us to trust his promise that “all shall be well,” forget about yesterday, don’t sweat tomorrow and live in the now, just like dogs do.  I guess you could say that God invites us to be more dog-like, so we can become more God-like.  It seems like our days would be better spent as dog days.